Love of the Water
by Eryessa
Summary: A Roman Reigns one shot. Roman Reigns meets and interesting woman while being back home in Pensacola, Florida. I love reviews people!


Foam gathered around Roman's ankles. The surf was excellent here in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida; not that he was a surfer himself. No, a swim had been his priority this day and he had just come out of it in his shorts just to enjoy the sights around him before he had to get ready to leave for Miami. There was no better way to release his tension of being a WWE superstar.

People walked the beach. Kids, who were out of school on this Saturday, played in the surf or built castles in the sand. Parents watched the kids while surfers took to the waves a fair distance down the beach. But just as Roman was about to leave the water behind him, he saw a woman pushing a long board towards shore.

She was a brunette, so much of a brunette that her hair was black. She bent down to pick up the board in her right arm like a pro. She was lithe, fitting those surf shorts and sports bra very well. She was tall and small chested from what Roman could tell at this distance. He assumed she wouldn't be a surfer if she had a big rack on her. It had been a while since he'd been attracted to a woman he'd never met before. And his interest peaked when she turned to walk towards the beach. She wasn't whole, she was missing something.

She was missing her left arm, her entire left arm. Where there should have been an arm there wasn't.

"Whoa." He mumbled, forgetting to close his mouth as she started heading towards him.

The woman stopped near him, looking him over like he had done to her. From what he could see, she had these intense chocolate brown eyes.

"You look familiar." She finally said.

"I'm Roman Reigns. I'm a wrestler for the WWE. That's where you probably know me from."

"No, that's not it. I don't like wrestling. I use to run track back in high school. Pensacola Panthers."

"Yeah? I graduated from there in '03."

"I lost my arm in '04, just after I graduated. Ella Rosenfeld, it's nice to meet you, Roman." She had to put her board down so that she could hold her hand out to him.

She was confident, athletic. Her legs could tell him she was good a lot of thing. Ella, such a nice woman to get to know better.

"I was taking break for a while. Pack it in for the day. Sorry if I was intruding on your peaceful time, Roman. I just thought you looked familiar."

"Well, I am a famous wrestler but you said you don't like wrestling. He stated watching Ella pick up her board. "Maybe we've passed each other in the halls back in high school."

She gave a one shoulder shrug, a portion of her long black hair falling in her face. Ella was really beautiful in his eyes. "Sorry if I interrupted your space. I'll just leave." Then she started to walk away.

"No." He spoke up, coming to stride next to her as she walked. "No, you're not bothering me. I'm about to go to the boardwalk for some lunch. Want to join me." That question was out of Roman's mouth before he could stop himself.

But she smiled. It was slight, as if Ella didn't know how to respond at first. God, how he just wanted to know what she was thing. That way he could be justified for feeling like a jerk. Maybe he was being desperate because he finally met a woman who didn't know him as a famous celebrity.

"Do you love the water?" She asked, her head jerking back towards that Gulf Coast that was behind them.

"Huh?"

"Just answer my question. Are you in love with the water?"

"Um, yeah." Really, he didn't know how to answer that question. But he did, he'd loved the water just as much as he loved to wrestle.

Ella looked him over. Her brown eyes scanning his face for any sign of an answer that he hadn't said. She was definitely white skinned though she had a tanned sun kissed complexion because she obviously spent time out at the beach. Her eyes were strong, they were also very determined. She wanted something of him and Roman was willing to give it in anyway possible.

"So where are you taking me?" She finally asked, though no smile graced her face.

"Sea Side Surf. Haven't been there in a long while. What are you going to do with your board?"

"I've got a rack to tie it to on my Wrangler." She pointed towards the parking lot that was nearest to the beach.

"Let me take that for you." Roman motioned to the long board under her arm.

"Why?"

"Because I asked. You know you can ask for help right? And I am a nice enough person. I also know long boards are heavier than the short boards."

She sighed, blowing at the hair in her face. "Okay, okay. You can tak my board." Ella relented as she turned the right side of her body towards him.

Finally, Roman was breaking her hard exterior. Slightly at least.

Roman walked Ella back to her Jeep Wrangler, a shimmering blue color with the obvious surf board rack on top. He even secured the board to the rack for Ella, earning a glare from those confident brown eyes. She was definitely putting up a barrier but allowing thins to go at a very slow snail pace. He would ride her wave of confusion until he could figure her out completely.

Sea Side Surf was a good ten minute walk from the beach side parking lot. It was a Boardwalk seafood café where they served the best chowder in all of Pensacola. When the oil spill in the Gulf happened, Sea Side Surf nearly shut down because of it. Sea Side own a fleet of fisherman, crabbers and shrimpers to get fresh supplies daily. A lot of water fairing workers lost most of the jobs when the oil crisis happened. Luckily Sea Side Surf didn't go out of business. It was slowly coming back to popularity on the Boardwalk again.

Otherwise, Roman wouldn't be spending his lunch with a one armed beauty.

"How long have you been surfing, Ella?" Roman asked, trying to start a conversation while they waited for their ordered food.

She played with a beer bottle. Yes, beer and it surprised Roman when she ordered it. That meant she was trying to take the edge off to loosen up. Or it could be something else entirely. Yet when he asked her about surfing, she looked happy.

"Since I could stand, at least that's what my Dad would say to people. He would boast half of the time about it. Surfing, swimming, even wake boarding. If it involved the water, I was in it. Cross country and track was another thing I do. I like to run."

"So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a coach and a teacher at my old high school. The place is like a third home to me, the water being my second home. I live near there, along an inlet river that head out to the Gulf."

"What do you teach?"

"English and history. I always end up teaching about the history of surfing and my Polynesian ancestry."

"Wait, you're Samoan?" Roman couldn't believe the words that were being said. Maybe her tanned skin was because of the Samoan blood that ran through his veins as well.

"Partly. I would say diluted. My great grand parents from my father's side came from Hawaii. Dad would say my love with water goes back to my ancestors in Hawaii. Honolulu, I've been there a few times. Mostly for surfing competitions and to get in touch with family I've never met before."

"My grandparents came from Hawaii and settled in San Francisco. My Dad and Uncle were wrestlers in a group called the Wild Samoans. I've got a few wrestling cousins. My family is a popular Samoan wrestling family. I wear my heritage with pride." Roman held up his right arm to show off his tattoo sleeve.

She gave a wary smile, still playing with her beer bottle slightly.

"What title are you holding, Roman?" Ella finally asked.

"Tag team championship titles with a buddy of mine. I thought you said you didn't like wrestling."

Ella looked at her bottle before picking it up and downing maybe half of it before she sat it in front of her again. Roman could almost see her yelling at herself in her head.

"Yes, I don't like wrestling. But it's because I used to a date a wrestler. I don't think the only reason why I sort of recognize you is just because of school. You were in FCW, right?"

"Before the WWE turned it into NXT, yeah. Who were you dating?"

"Someone who shouldn't be a wrestler. He had the character of a heel but lacked any real talent. I figured out he was a lying piece of shit. He liked rats."

"Ring rats?"

"Yep. And once I figured that out, wrestling was the poison I didn't want to go near."

"You didn't, but now," Roman prodded.

"What can I say, you actually have talent if you made to the big leagues like the WWE." She gave him a bigger smile.

Ella was toying, yeah she was. Dragging him around with her every word. And it was working, too. Roman didn't mind at least.

They ate and talked. Roman telling her of his life on the road, performing for sold out audiences and things like that. How it was something he found he was good at when football didn't pan out for him.

"Did you play in high school?" Ella asked. She gave up after one beer, having switched to ice water afterwards.

"I did. I've been defensive tackler since then, and into my college and NFL stints."

"I can tell." She swept her eyes over his larger frame. "I can also believe you are capable at wrestling. What's your finisher, a tackle?"

He laughed. "It's called a spear in wrestling."

"You know, you're the first."

"First what, Ella?"

"To not ask about how I lost my arm."

"You would have mentioned it sooner or later."

Now that ball was in her court. Roman was inviting her to talk about it. Now he was in charge. For the moment at least.

"Do you respect the lives in the water, Roman?" She asked, her confident eyes looking at his for the answer.'

"Yeah, I do." He sound sincere to her so she nodded at his answer.

"I was attacked by a rather large bull shark. But it wasn't out in the ocean, out on a surf board or when while I was swimming out in the Gulf. I was hanging out with a few of my old track teammates in the very inlet river that I live along. I was laying on one of those pool air mattresses when it happened."

Roman understood sharks, living next to a place where shark was a normal thing to see from time to time. He understood that bull sharks could be extra aggressive but the could also survive in fresh water along with ocean water. He's heard of bulls being seen as far up the Mississippi River as St. Louis.

"With the amount of blood I lost, I should have died. My friends freaked out seeing this large shark on my arm. It tore my left arm off at my should and left, luckily. I basically crawled out of the water, shock nearly freezing my body motionless. The team took towels to stop the bleeding and called 9-1-1. After that, while I tried to survive my injuries, people wanted to have the shark killed."

"And you didn't. You didn't want the shark to be killed."

"No, I didn't want that. It was being a shark and sharks are the rulers of the oceans and water ways, in the case of bull sharks. I didn't even see it, even though it had dragged me under water." She looked out the large windows that faced the beach and the surf. "So as the victim, I requested a stay of execution for the shark. Too many have already died in the name of a sport. Many have gone extinct or near extinct because of the bad press sharks get."

Roman could see how passionate Ella was about the whole thing. "And you didn't let it hamper your passion for surfing, or water sports."

"I wish I could be more confident in dating a wrestler or anyone again."

"He must have really hurt you, huh?"

"He betrayed me. So why bother, you know?"

She could survive a shark attack to keep surfing, swimming or other water related things, but she couldn't face heartbreak again. Loosing trust in men made her wary of him and his intentions. Not that he had any to begin with. Roman decided not to push the issue after that.

Lunch was eaten in relative silence besides small intervals of small talk. Ella didn't drink anymore alcohol, instead she stayed with water for the rest of the meal. But eventually the peace they were sharing was interrupted by a blast from the past.

"Dud, look who we have here. Roman Reigns. Been a long while, man." A blonde guy with surfer hair and trunks approached their table. Roman instantly recognized Judah Clarkson.

"Jude, how's training?" Roman asked as he noticed Ella refusing to look at the man with the voluptuous beauty attached to his arm.

"Oh you know, the ladies love me. I just don't understand why you got called up and I didn't." Judah said before he noticed Ella at all. "Dude, what are you doing with her?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roman asked, turning in his chair to face the man that was interrupting his peace.

"Well look at her. Yeah, she's beautiful, got a rocking body but she's not totally there, if you know what I mean. I was embarrassed to even be seen with a one armed chick."

When the floozy next to Judah laughed the drink in Ella's hand was suddenly all over the woman's face. The woman shrieked, much like the witch from Oz when she had water splashed on her. Judah actually stepped back when both Ella and Roman stood up at the same time.

"Looks like you got a wet rat with you. And you know why you haven't been called up to the WWE? Your actions don't back up your words."

Ella walked out of Sea Side Surf, heading to the one place that made her feel like she was accepted. Roman had to pay for their lunch, not that he didn't mind, and he went in search of the hurt woman. It didn't take a genius to figure out where she would be found. Roman found her knee deep in the water, her hand covering her face. Her hair was free from it's tie and hanging down around the middle of her back.

"Ella?" Roman came to stand next to the five foot eight woman. "So it was Judah, huh?"

She wiped her tears away. "He was. He tome me I was beautiful even without an arm." She sighed before continuing. But he refused to take me to FCW, to let me see his family, his friends. I had to surprise him at one show. I guess that's where I remember you from. We were only together at my place, he lived with me. Then I came home from work to find him having sex with some ring rat in our bed. And you know what he did?"

"What?" Roman refused to look away from her.

"He laughed, as did the rat. He said he only dated me for sex and that even though I was pretty, I was embarrassing to be seen with. He has an arrest record because I called the cops and told them that he was trespassing. I guess that's the reason why they won't let him in the WWE."

"And he's the reason why you don't like wrestling?"

"Basically, yeah. Stupid isn't it?" She looked at him for his answer.

"No, that's a valid reason to not trust a man. But wrestling is fun. It's like," he felt the waves brushing at his thighs. "it's like surfing. It's thrilling, tiring but if you don't respect the sport it will eat you up and throw you out. There are risks for everything in life, it's you who has to take that risk."

She nodded. "But then you have to understand, my first love is always going to be water. That's why I asked you if you loved it. That's whty I asked if you respect the lives in the water. And you answer both how I hoped you would. You answered honestly. You didn't lie to my face.

Taking her hand in his, Roman felt her fingers tighten around his. This would be the first step for both of them. It was Roman's chance to ride the waves with a woman like Ella. And it would be her chance to ride the waves of uncertainty as she let her barriers down around someone like Roman Reigns.

She loved life too much to stop loving the water and the lives in it. She wouldn't give up on finding that love again in someone like him.

* * *

**I wanted to write another piece of Roman Reigns fiction. And with my computer issues, and lack of inspiration for my other stories I came up with this in about an hour. Hope you liked it. Reviews are always accepted her. **


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